Review: Richard Ashcroft headlines day three of Heritage Live at Audley End House and Gardens

Richard Ashcroft, formerly of The Verve and a highly successful solo artist in his own right, performed at Audley End House and Gardens on Saturday (3 August).

The singer was headlining day three of the site’s Heritage Live series of concerts for 2024, which began on Thursday (1 August) with Suede topping the bill and ended yesterday (Sunday, 4 August) with Elbow as the main attraction.

Of Ashcroft’s two support acts, Tom Meighan and Ocean Colour Scene, I enjoyed more the former, though the latter were not without their appeal.

Meighan, the ex Kasabian frontman, delivered a superb, high-energy performance that combined some lesser-known (by me, anyway) solo material with a number of Kasabian show-stoppers, including Empire, Shoot the Runner, and a mesmerising Club Foot.

He spoke briefly of his “old band” and seemed to get quite emotional during the heartfelt Would You Mind, a moving solo track from 2021.

Appearing to address his much-publicised personal problems, the singer stood defiantly and spoke of “moving forward”.

Meighan’s set was so good that I overheard someone asking his friend “How do you follow that?” “You don’t,” came the reply.

That said, Ocean Colour Scene gave it a pretty good go and were very well received by the crowd, many of whom - myself included - were keen to relive their youth.

I’ve never really been much of an OCS fan personally (I blame The Day We Caught the Train), but I do like The Riverboat Song - famously used on Chris Evans’ popular 90s television show TFI Friday - and it was that that kicked off their set.

Despite me not liking closing number The Day We Caught the Train, it seemed that I was the only person there as far as I could see that didn’t!

As expected, a huge cheer greeted the arrival of Richard Ashcroft and his band, the charismatic singer looking every inch the rock star, and as lithe and ready for action as ever.

He kicked off his assured showing with the passionate Hold On, a song with a very positive message about staying strong, and this was followed by two Verve songs - Space and Time and the beautiful Sonnet.

Music Is Power is one of my favourite Richard Ashcroft songs from his solo catalogue and the singer sang it well - indeed, he sounded in fine voice throughout and I didn’t really hear his voice falter at all.

Addressing the audience ahead of the melodic A Song for the Lovers, Ashcroft spoke of the last few years, specifically Covid, saying: “I should forgive but I can’t forget”.

He added: “I never want to see a park bench taped up again” and opined that “We should never not be allowed to do this” [stage a large live music event].

The star thanked his amazing - and very animated - backing band for helping him “break the night” during Break the Night with Colour and then came the sing-along par excellence that is The Drugs Don’t Work.

“This one’s a bit of a tune as well, it’s called Lucky Man,” he said, by way of an introduction to my favourite Verve song - another track from the band’s celebrated third album, Urban Hymns (1997).

Coming back out for the encore, Ashcroft said: “I hope you’ve had a great time today, in the sunshine - this is one of the few gigs over the summer where it’s been beautiful, a beautiful evening, and you’ve been a great crowd for us tonight.”

He asked the fans to sing along to C’mon People (We’re Making It Now) and then it was time for the ‘main event’.

“I’m going to leave you with a song you all know, hopefully, and if you don’t you’ve been in a coma - congratulations for waking up,” joked the singer.

The song, of course, was Bitter Sweet Symphony and it provided a magnificent ending to a lovely and fulfilling day, both musically and weather-wise.

For more on Richard Ashcroft, visit richardashcroft.com.